Networks
FTTP versus FTTC in 2026
Fibre to the building versus fibre to a green box. The adjective on the envelope is no longer enough.
12 min read · Networks
In 2026 the word fibre is almost useless. It describes the majority of products, including ones that still end in a copper pair that hates rain. FTTP versus FTTC is the distinction that still pays: light to the building, or light to a green box and then a history. Retailers will not always say it on the envelope. The wall and the upload will.
How to tell, at home
ONT on the wall with a fibre tail: FTTP. A faceplate that looks like a phone socket feeding a hub: copper last metres, so FTTC or similar. A Virgin tap: cable.
Upload 15–20 on a 80-ish down: cabinet. Upload that resembles the down, or a few hundred: fibre or cable-DOCSIS that is trying. Trust the ugly numbers over the adjective.
If both exist at the address
Take FTTP unless the install date is hostile and the cabinet is genuinely fine for the house. Fine means measured at 9:30, not a 2019 memory.
Stop-sell will eventually remove the copper option. Do not buy a souvenir.
If only the cabinet exists
Then FTTC is not a moral failure. It is the plant. Price retailers on it, or price FWA/satellite as a bridge, or wait on a dated FTTP.
What you should not do is pay a FTTP poster-price for a cabinet product because the word fibre was large.
| Clue | Likely | Next |
|---|---|---|
| ONT + fibre tail | FTTP | Compare FTTP retailers |
| 67/18, phone-ish plate | FTTC | Ask if FTTP is live; do not sign long copper if it is |
| Virgin tap, 350/35 | Cable | Name it; compare FTTP if live |
If the light stops in a green box, you do not have the 2026 product. You have the 2014 one with better branding.
FTTP versus FTTC is the last technology distinction most households need. Everything else is a shop. Get the technology right, then haggle the shop.
Questions
- The bill says fibre 67.
- Almost certainly FTTC. Real FTTP mid-tiers do not look like 2014 Superfast numbers.
- There is a small white box with a fibre tail.
- That is an ONT. You are on FTTP (or a similar fibre drop). Congratulations. Compare FTTP retailers.
- Can I convert FTTC to FTTP without switching?
- Sometimes your retailer will migrate you if Openreach FTTP is live. Sometimes you must order. Ask. Do not assume a profile change.
- Is G.fast FTTP?
- No. It is a faster copper last metres from a cabinet or distribution point. Still not an ONT.
- Cable?
- A third animal — coax. See Virgin versus Nexfibre. Not FTTC, not FTTP, until Nexfibre is actually FTTP.
Sources
- Openreach product definitions
- Ofcom advertised broadband technology guidance
- Thinkbroadband technology mix, 2026
Figures move. Prices, coverage and eligibility must be confirmed with the provider. OneTouchSwitch is not Ofcom, TOTSCo or a broadband network. Last fact-checked 10 September 2026.
Continue in this issue
Networks
13 min read · Networks
Networks
Stop-sell
In more and more exchanges you cannot buy the old product even if the old wires still work. That is policy, not a fault on the line.
Rural
12 min read · Rural
Rural
The exchange that kept copper
Stop-sell is a programme, not a spell. Plenty of pairs still take a new order, and plenty of ‘fibre’ on a bill is still a cabinet.
Hardware
12 min read · Hardware
Hardware
The ONT on the wall
That little white box is the network’s last official object in your house. Treat it with the respect you deny the hub.
Money
14 min read · Money
Money
The upload you are not buying
Download is the poster. Upload is the working day. If the household sends as well as receives, the second number is the product.
Practical guides